Winter weather could disrupt hundreds of thousands of students taking a very important test.Get School Closings here | Get Email alertsSchool officials do have a rarely used Plan B established to have students start and finish their Maryland School Assessment tests, which measure student performance in math and reading skills at the elementary and middle school levels.Given over two weeks, the MSAs are rarely ever interrupted by the weather."It's a very important test for us. It's a very important day for us," Carroll County Public Schools Superintendent Stephen Guthrie said. "We do a lot of preparations with our teachers to get our students ready. There are benchmarks, there are assessments, there is getting the students emotionally ready for the test. We are taking the math test today, but certainly there could be interruptions with the weather."If, by chance, the expected snow storm keeps students out of school for more than a day, administrators already know how they'll respond."We also have contingency plans in case it's a huge snow storm and we are closed Wednesday, Thursday and maybe late on Friday. If that happens, we'll postpone the second day of the math test until next Monday," said Steven Johnson, assistant superintendent of instruction for Carroll County schools.The word has already gone out to schools and parents about how the district will adjust the testing schedule."We have had snows before for MSA testing and we've had to adjust before. Unfortunately, the weather does change this time of year for the negative," said Tom Hill, director of middle schools for Carroll County schools.The transportation department is also on standby, making plans to get students to school safely."That's the major concern, but, of course, students at bus stops is a concern. So, it's more than just the school bus. Once students are on the bus, they are very safe, even in snowy conditions," said Mike Hardesty, director of transportation for Carroll County schools.Should schools close Wednesday, here's a rundown of how many snow or emergency days area school districts have left:- Anne Arundel County is out of snow days- Baltimore City has two days left- Baltimore County has five snow days remaining- Carroll County has two days left for snow- Harford County has four days left- Howard County builds snow days on the end of its school calendar19186010

WESTMINSTER, Md. —

Winter weather could disrupt hundreds of thousands of students taking a very important test.

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School officials do have a rarely used Plan B established to have students start and finish their Maryland School Assessment tests, which measure student performance in math and reading skills at the elementary and middle school levels.

Given over two weeks, the MSAs are rarely ever interrupted by the weather.

"It's a very important test for us. It's a very important day for us," Carroll County Public Schools Superintendent Stephen Guthrie said. "We do a lot of preparations with our teachers to get our students ready. There are benchmarks, there are assessments, there is getting the students emotionally ready for the test. We are taking the math test today, but certainly there could be interruptions with the weather."

If, by chance, the expected snow storm keeps students out of school for more than a day, administrators already know how they'll respond.

"We also have contingency plans in case it's a huge snow storm and we are closed Wednesday, Thursday and maybe late on Friday. If that happens, we'll postpone the second day of the math test until next Monday," said Steven Johnson, assistant superintendent of instruction for Carroll County schools.

The word has already gone out to schools and parents about how the district will adjust the testing schedule.

"We have had snows before for MSA testing and we've had to adjust before. Unfortunately, the weather does change this time of year for the negative," said Tom Hill, director of middle schools for Carroll County schools.

The transportation department is also on standby, making plans to get students to school safely.

"That's the major concern, but, of course, students at bus stops is a concern. So, it's more than just the school bus. Once students are on the bus, they are very safe, even in snowy conditions," said Mike Hardesty, director of transportation for Carroll County schools.

Should schools close Wednesday, here's a rundown of how many snow or emergency days area school districts have left:

- Anne Arundel County is out of snow days- Baltimore City has two days left- Baltimore County has five snow days remaining- Carroll County has two days left for snow- Harford County has four days left- Howard County builds snow days on the end of its school calendar